Unlike "Grizzly Man",Steve Irwin was born to do what he did.This was not some untrained idiot running around with wild animals without a clue.It is just one of those freak things.I hate to hear that man,hate it.He made a difference worldwide,made wildlife "cool" to a lot of kids (and grown-ups too).Freakish thing,a ten inch stingray barb between the ribs,right over and into the heart........ WOW ,what can you say?

[quote=BertInTexas]Unlike "This was not some untrained idiot running around with wild animals without a clue.It is just one of those freak things".
I don't know if I agree with that, you have to be part IDIOT to do some of the stupid things he did. Were all glad he did them and entertained us at the same time, but, you have to have a screw loose somewhere to flirt with deadly critters like he did. Glad he made a living doing what he loved, can relate, however, you have to realize the dangers and weigh them against the pleasure/thrill you get in return. Guess we know where he stood on that one.

"This was not some untrained idiot running around with wild animals without a clue."- What kind of training did he have? No training can prepare you to deal w/ the unexpected behavior of dangerous animals- this is exactly what happened here.

"It is just one of those freak things."- I would say this about an ordinary accident; but let's face it- the guy tempted fate one too many times and paid the price.

Don't get me wrong- God bless him and his family, may he rest in peace.

I just think it was pretty obvious (to me anyway) that something like this was bound to happen... kind of like Evil crashing his motorcycle.

Born to do what he did? I think so,he was raised around wild animals,and he was passionate about his "work".A screw loose? Perhaps,but all adrenaline junkies tempt fate one way or another,does that make us all idiots as well,after all we ride skis that exceed 65 mph on a regular basis? Bull stingrays are not exactly known as killers,it just happened that the position he was in at the time was such that the stinger peirced between his ribs and straight into his heart from what I gather,and that to me qualifies as a bonafide freak accident.To each his own though I suppose.He made conservation and wildlife "cool" again,a'la Jacques Cousteau. May he rest in peace.

Over all it's just sad that it's something like this that takes him! I heard that this is only the 17th recorded stingray death EVER! WTF! Why does Osoma have all the luck and a good guy like Steve have a freak accident? This world will continue to confuse me!!!